If your home décor is beginning to look a little "frazzled", then here are seven tips to give your room a quick make-over without breaking the family budget. Not all home decorating projects have to mean knocking down walls and hiring a contractor. You can easily accomplish these seven tips over a few days and bring a lifeless, dull room back to life.

1. CLEAN: If you have a family, then you probably have newspapers, magazines, books, toys, shoes, clothes, etc., that detract from the personality of your room. Find or create new storage spaces for these items. Give your draperies and upholstered furnishings a good vacuuming. Remove all your decorative collectibles and give each piece a thorough cleaning. You want the space to have a fresh beginning.

2. FOCAL POINT: If your room is lacking a focal point, try painting one wall in a different, but coordinating color, that complements the rest of your room and furnishings. The newly painted wall will instantly become the focal point of the room. Decorate the wall with interesting art work or a large ornately framed mirror. (If you opt to use a mirror, make sure it reflects a pleasant view - never a blank wall or closet door). Place a favorite piece of furniture against the new focal point wall to complete the look. If your room already has a nice focal point, consider giving the entire room a fresh new coat of paint. A simple color change can make an incredible difference in your room.

3. REARRANGE THE FURNITURE: No matter the size of your room, pull the furniture away from the walls. Place your furnishings at interesting angles in front of your focal point to create an intimate conversation area. If you room is narrow, try placing the sofa on the diagonal to make the room appear wider. Never arrange your room so that the traffic flow runs directly through your conversational area.

4. REARRANGE THE RUG: If you have an area rug, turn it on an angle and use it to define your newly arranged conversation area. If you have wall-to-wall carpeting, try layering a complimentary area rug in your conversation area. (Use carpet-to-carpet tape to anchor the area rug. This helps keep the area rug in place, and, more importantly, helps prevent someone from tripping over the edges of the rug).

5. ADD GREENERY: Breathe new life into your room with the addition of healthy green plants. Use plants of varying heights and species for interest. Keep your plants in good health and well-trimmed. (A vase of fresh cut flowers is always a beautiful addition to any room). If you have poor lighting, consider using good quality silk greenery. Silk greenery is actually a safer choice if you have small children or pets.

6. BUY SOME NEW LAMPS: Nothing can make your room look more outdated and stale than lamps from the sixties. Find unique, interesting lamps that will make a bold statement and relate to the personality of your room. Look for lighting with three-way switches. This offers you a variety of lighting options to set the mood in your room.

7. ADD PERSONALITY AND ACCESSORIES: Refresh your favorite family photographs by treating them to a new frame. Hang interesting artwork, mirrors or architectural pieces that reflect your personality. Give new life to your sofa and chairs with decorative pillows and throws. This is an easy way to add color and texture to your room. Create vignettes with your freshly cleaned collectibles. Group them in odd numbers at varying heights. Use hardbound books in stacks, or assorted decorative boxes, to assist with varying the heights. Bring in some candlelight to add drama and warmth. Last, but not least, add something "unexpected" just for fun.

With a little bit of imagination and creativity, you can turn your "frazzled" home décor into a fresh, exciting new space. Renew your passion for decorating your home - "one room at a time!"

When it comes to home decoration, it is certainly important to make choices that reflect your personal taste and one-of-a-kind style. But it is possible to take your signature style a bit too far. Here are six sure-fire ways to lose your "decorator of the year" award.

1. Ignore the scale of the room. Nothing looks more out of place than doll-house sized furniture in a grand living room, or a baby grand piano stuffed into a cozy den. The furniture that worked in your old house or apartment may simply be out of scale for the rooms in your new home, so bite the bullet and replace those items with furniture that makes sense.

2. Hang all of your pictures too high. For some reason, most do-it-yourself decorators hang pictures at a height that only works for NBA basketball players. The focal point of the piece of art should be at gallery level, which is generally considered to be at eye-level for an average person who is 5 feet 7 inches tall. If you are hanging a picture to act as an accent piece for a table or lamp, the elements should be within 10 or 12 inches of each other.

3. Display every piece of bric-a-brac you own. In home decorating, more is not necessarily better. If you own a large collection of porcelain rabbits, it can be visually overwhelming to display them all together.. For some reason, an odd number in a grouping is more visually dynamic than en even number, so choose three or five of your favorites rabbits to display in a grouping, and send the rest of your collection into hibernation for awhile. When the seasons change, you can swap out the next group of bunnies.

4. Match everything. Have you ever walked into a room where the flowered wallpaper matched the flowered tablecloth, which matched the flowered seat napkins and the seat cushions? Did it give you a headache? If this scenario describes a room in your house, you may want to replace the busy flowered napkins with a complimentary solid color, and rethink the wallpaper altogether.

The same concept goes for furniture. It is better to have two matching pieces of furniture in a room, paired with a couple of complimentary single pieces. The very best room décor appears to have been carefully collected over a period of years, rather than purchased at Art Van in one fell swoop on a Saturday afternoon.

5. Make it precious. The last major decorating mistake occurs when home decorators try too hard. The result is a room that makes for a great photograph, but lacks any kind of warmth or human appeal. If your guests are afraid to move a sofa pillow for fear of upsetting the tableau, you need to reassess your decorating goals. Perhaps you can swap out the silk pillows for casual linen pillows and make sure there is a comfy place for guests to put their feet up.

By avoiding the five pitfalls described above, you can create a warm and inviting space in which to live and entertain your family and friends. Just remember, when decorating your home, the results should look more like you, and less like the JC Penney catalog.

Home decorating, ever wanted to try it, but hesitated because of time constraints or budget concerns. The following ideas will not only give instant results, but more importantly fit into any budget.

1. Changing the Look of Your Walls

Adding a new color or changing the texture, can give the room a completely new appearance and that may be the only decorating change that is necessary. The easiest option is to paint, and with the color choices available, the possibilities are endless. Another consideration would be wallpaper; the only problem you may have is choosing a design. If on the other hand, only a little something extra is needed a simple stencil design might just do the trick. Any of these ideas can be used either individually or in combination with each other.

2. Look to Your Windows For a Whole New View

Changing your window treatments is probably the easiest of any home decorating projects. The choices range from styles that include drapes, tab-top, cafe and shears, backgrounds of solid colors, floral and stripes, fabrics that include silk, cotton, lace or velvet. The most economical is ready-made; they are very affordable therefore giving you the opportunity to make changes more often.

3. Accessories Make Your Decorating Complete

Some of the more common are area rugs, wall art, lamps, pillows and cozy throws. Items for the kitchen make beautiful additions, for example; canisters, dinnerware, dishtowels or decorative bottles filled with oils and vinegar. Add a little whimsy with oversized ceramic figures like roosters, or the adorable pigs holding chalkboard menus. Bathrooms are another area for pretty accessories like decorative soaps placed in a bowl or basket; towels come in so many colors and designs now that they alone make great accessories. Last but not least do not forget candles and bowls of potpourri.

4. Collectibles Bring a Personal Touch to Home Decorating

Collectibles can be anything involving three or more of the same thing, or items that are related. This can include porcelain dolls, Christmas villages, collector plates and who can resist those adorable little faces of Boyds Bears. Maybe items with a nostalgic feel like tin lunchboxes, cookie jars or salt & peppershakers stir up special memories of childhood.

5. Updating Your Furniture

One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is with slipcovers; they come in a large variety of colors and patterns. Pieces like end tables, hutches or even a dinning table and chairs can be refinished for a new look. One way is with paint. Pick a color to coordinate with your room or choose something bright and whimsical. Another option would be to use stain, stains come in a multitude of shades; they can also come in colors.

So, if you are ready to give some decorating a go, try these basic changes to start. Over time, more things can be changed but for right now, simple changes can make a big difference.